Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2025 to Question 44913 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, if he will hold discussions with the Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister on the reasons for the difference in the rate of public electric vehicle charging devices per 100,000 of population between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
My officials regularly engage with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland on zero emission vehicle initiatives, including charging infrastructure development. Minister Lightwood met the Northern Ireland Minister for Infrastructure in April during the British-Irish Council meeting to discuss the electric vehicle transition. We will continue to work, where appropriate, with the Devolved Governments to improve transport outcomes for all people of the UK.
While transport is largely devolved to the Department for Infrastructure, the Department is supporting Northern Ireland’s transition to zero emission vehicles. Through Round 1 of the Levelling Up Fund, we are providing up to £3.27 million to upgrade and expand the EV charging network. Previously, two grants totalling £1.38 million were awarded under the On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will have discussions with car manufacturer representatives on the advisability of continuing with the installation of Euro New Cap Assessment Programme systems on all new vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport has regular discussions with representatives from the automotive industry to help guide future policy.
The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is an independent charity, of which the Department is one of many members. It provides information to consumers on the relative safety of a range of new vehicles, including cars, so that they can factor safety into their vehicle buying decisions. Not all new vehicles are rated, but the process incentivises manufacturers to develop increasingly safer vehicles through better design and the use of new technology. It imposes no mandatory requirements, and it is a commercial decision for the vehicle manufacturers to determine which safety systems they choose to fit.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to publish a consultation on draft measures to support young and novice drivers before the summer recess.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads and are exploring options to tackle the root causes of this for young people and novice drivers. Further details will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the new Road Safety Strategy will be announced.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Improving road safety is one of my key priorities. Too many people are killed and seriously injured in road traffic collisions, and this Government will work hard to prevent these tragedies for all road users. That is why we are developing our Road Safety Strategy.
At the Transport Select Committee in April 2025, the Secretary of State set out that we hope to publish the Strategy later this year.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37986 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, if she will hold discussions with the Minister for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland on taking steps to increase the number of publicly available electric vehicle charging points.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Secretary of State met with the Minister for the Economy, on 6 May to discuss decarbonising road transport. Minister Lightwood also met the Northern Ireland Minister for Infrastructure in April during the British-Irish Council meeting to discuss the EV transition. Additionally, my officials regularly engage with the Department for Infrastructure on zero emission vehicle initiatives, including charging infrastructure development.
While transport is largely devolved to the Department for Infrastructure, the Department is supporting Northern Ireland’s transition to zero emission vehicles. Through Round 1 of the Levelling Up Fund, we are providing up to £3.27 million to upgrade and expand the EV charging network. Previously, two grants totalling £1.38 million were awarded under the On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will meet with representatives of Heathrow Airport to discuss the potential inclusion of Heathrow Logistics Hubs as part of its expansion plans.
Answered by Mike Kane
The government supports airport expansion and has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow and expects proposals to be brought forward by the summer.
The specific details of the proposals for a third runway are a matter for the promoters to consider but government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 43027 on Electric Vehicles: Charging Points, how many public charging devices for electric vehicles there were per head of population in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales, and (d) Northern Ireland as of 1 January 2025.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The below table shows public electric vehicle charging devices per 100,000 of the population in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as of 1 January 2025.
| England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland |
Public electric vehicle charging devices per 100,000 of population | 111.0 | 112.7 | 99.9 | 35.6 |
Data on public electric vehicle charging devices in the UK, held by the Department for Transport, are sourced from the electric vehicle charging platform Zapmap. Charging devices not recorded on Zapmap are not included and the true number of charging devices may be slightly higher than recorded in these figures.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of trends in the level of regional disparities in the number of public charging devices for electric vehicles by population.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is committed to accelerating the roll-out of affordable and accessible charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle.
Chargepoint availability is increasing everywhere with public charging device numbers increasing by 45% in rural areas of England in 2024.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she plans to take to reduce the number of car accidents among (a) recently-qualified and (b) young drivers.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads. As work progresses on the new road safety strategy, we are exploring options to tackle the root causes of this without unfairly penalising young drivers.
My Department’s THINK! campaign aims to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on the roads in England and Wales, and is primarily focused on men aged 17-24. THINK! plays an important role in raising awareness of risky driving behaviours amongst young people. This has recently included campaigns on drink-driving and speeding on rural roads.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the maritime decarbonisation plan on the UK economy by 2029.
Answered by Mike Kane
We will shortly set out our next steps for reducing shipping emissions in a forthcoming maritime decarbonisation plan, which will include a package of policy and regulatory measures. Maritime has a key role to play in supporting the Governments missions, including to Kickstart Economic Growth, and our plans will ensure that we seize the green growth opportunity of maritime decarbonisation, whilst limiting any impacts to business. We will publish an impact assessment and consult the industry on individual measures, and economic impacts will form part of these assessments.